Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

RCMP crack down on impaired drivers

A focus on local roads netted several impaired drivers last week, including a few drivers who were drunk enough to be charged. In the early morning hours of Oct.

A focus on local roads netted several impaired drivers last week, including a few drivers who were drunk enough to be charged.

In the early morning hours of Oct. 16 the RCMP received a call of a possible impaired driver and caught up with the suspect just past Emerald Estates near the heliport. A 56-year-old Whistler male was brought in and blew samples of .300 and .290, more than three times the legal limit.

Five 24-hour prohibitions, where drivers blew between 0.05 and 0.08, were handed out the following evening. The first was at 8 p.m. at Village Gate and Highway 99, the second at 12:20 a.m. in the White Gold area, the third at 12:50 a.m. at Highway 99 and Village Gate, the fourth at Highway 99 and Airport Road in Pemberton and the fifth at 1 a.m. on Lorimer Road.

The following evening there were two 24-hour prohibitions and two impaired drivers. One was pulled over at Highway 99 and Village Gate around 12:30 a.m. with a broken tail light, and a 28-year-old male from Langley was arrested with readings of 0.120. At 2:24 a.m. local tribal police brought in a suspect for a test, which the driver failed.

In the early morning on Oct. 20 another 24-hour suspension was handed out, followed closely by an arrest for impairment. The RCMP observed a female and two males approach a vehicle, then change direction when they noticed the police. Shortly afterwards the police saw the vehicle drive away and the RCMP observed their driving before pulling the vehicle over. A 23-year-old Whistler female was charged after blowing .110 in two tests.

According to Sergeant Steve Leclair his staff has several RCMP officers that are interested in careers with traffic services, and are keen to patrol the highway. In the shoulder season, when the village is quieter, the officers have more time to pursue some of the areas of policing they are interested in, which is responsible for the rash of impaired driving tickets and arrests.